About

Divest LA

Divest LA is a movement for revolutionary action at the local level. Our aim is to use our civic power to embolden Los Angeles city officials and residents to reinvest our money towards socially and environmentally conscious institutions.

We the people call on Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council to divest from Wells Fargo. We will not support financial institutions that illegally foreclose on working-class families, discriminate against people of color or low-income consumers, commit mortgage fraud, invest in oppression against indigenous peoples, or finance the destruction of our shared environment.

We want Los Angeles City Council to pass an ordinance to end the city’s current relationship with Wells Fargo, and amend the current Responsible Banking Ordinance (RBO) to include stronger ethical, social and environmental criteria when considering banking contracts.

Wells Fargo is a major financier of the Dakota Access Pipeline, an oil pipeline project that has destroyed sacred tribal lands, endangers the clean water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation and millions of Americans, and has resulted in human rights violations of indigenous peoples and water protectors.

Wells Fargo’s morally bankrupt practices are further exemplified by the 2016 lawsuit filed against the bank by the Los Angeles City Attorney for fraudulently opening more than two million unauthorized checking and credit-card accounts, and victimizing ordinary citizens for profit gain. For their deceptive acts, the bank settled with the County and City of Los Angeles for $185 million.

The City of Seattle recently achieved a landmark victory by voting to take $3 billion in annual business from Wells Fargo, because of the bank’s unethical business practices and its financing of the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline and of private prisons. The City of Davis, California followed suit by voting to divest $125 million from Wells Fargo. The divestment movement is underway.

Cities all across the United States are considering socially responsible banking ordinances and divesting from unethical banks. The people will no longer sit idle as our banks and financial institutions profit from injustice. The people are ready to take on the big banks and fossil fuel industry, regardless of who resides in the White House. Seattle was the first major city to divest. Los Angeles will be next.

Divest LA is also a call to action for conscious people everywhere to use our consumer power to defund DAPL and withdraw our assets from personal accounts from the financial institutions bankrolling the Dakota Access Pipeline. We encourage all Los Angeles consumers to move their money into local not-for-profit credit unions. To create a world centered on conscious economics, we must support people-driven, not profit-driven businesses.

We are calling on our elected city officials and all Los Angeles residents to take a stand for a socially conscious and ethical world and use our consumer power to defund the corporations behind DAPL. Stand with the people and protect the planet. Rise up, resist, and rebuild for collective future.

#DivestLA

About Divest LA:

Divest LA is a coalition of indigenous, environmental, political, and ethical banking organizations, including: Revolution LA, March and Rally Los Angeles, AIM SoCal, Red Earth Defense, Committee for Better Banks, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, and 350.org. Our aim is to embolden Los Angeles city officials and residents to divest from corporations that act against the interest of the common good, and reinvest funds towards socially and environmentally conscious institutions.